


we grew up at midnight

by monocheshaa



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen, Happy Pride, Lunari (League of Legends), Supportive Sister Alune, Trans Aphelios, alune's gonna support her bro until the end of days okay, alune's voice lines imply that phel used to be really lighthearted, and riot can pry lighthearted phel from my cold dead hands, god said trans aphelios is canon and i just had to comply, like that's just how it is, phel comes out and she's like "oh chillin! we vibe with that", pre-assassin training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24621325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monocheshaa/pseuds/monocheshaa
Summary: “Why the long face? Shouldn’t we be happy?” Alune’s silver eyes glinted in the slivers of light streaming from the windows. “Sister?”Aurelia sucked in a breath. Alright.Have faith.“Brother.”Alune’s expression went blank. “Huh?”“I’d like to be your brother, Alune.”
Relationships: Alune & Aphelios (League of Legends)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	we grew up at midnight

**Author's Note:**

> i came home from work and was instantaneously possessed by the need to project onto moonman mcjenkins and make the sweet sibling domestic content that we deserve. betas? don't know her!  
> also happy pride everyone :)

“Aren’t you excited, Relia?” Alune whispered excitedly, clasping Aurelia’s hands in her own. “All our hard work, finally recognized on this hallowed night!”

Aurelia smiled weakly. In all honesty, she was terrified; for tonight, the fate-touched twins were to be reborn as true sentinels of the Lunari, officiated warriors of their people. Their identities locked in stone, bound to the opalescent hightemple that Alune spent all her time in nowadays. 

It was on this night that Aurelia finally had to gather the courage to admit that she couldn’t be reborn as the Aurelia of before. Whipping a blade into a Solari’s chest was right. Breaking your back over hours of overstraining training was right. Spending night after night in isolation to accustom yourself to the moon’s whispers was right. Sharing a drink with your mentors after a hard day’s work was right. Looking at yourself in the mirror and being utterly disappointed by what you saw every time wasn’t... _ right. _

“Why the long face? Shouldn’t we be happy?” Alune’s silver eyes glinted in the slivers of light streaming from the windows. “Sister?”

Aurelia sucked in a breath. Alright.

_ Have faith. _

“Brother.”

Alune’s expression went blank. “Huh?”

“I’d like to be your brother, Alune.”

She blinked, eyes dropping to Aurelia’s held hands. Fear began to grip Aurelia’s chest like a choking noose.  _ Maybe this was a mistake. Perhaps I can try to walk this back, make it seem like a joke that fell flat- _

“That sounds great, Rel.”

The Lunari initiate’s racing thoughts screeched to a halt. Then it rewinded everything.

“I - really?”

Alune’s chiming laugh echoed throughout the caved-out room. “Really.”

A smile sprawled over Aurelia’s face. “You’re - you’re not...this isn’t odd to you?”

“To fear change is the Solari way, brother,” Alune said softly, bringing him into a hug. “We’re meant to wax and wane, pulling in and out of the scenes of life like the tide. Change is natural - we shine brightest when accepting what makes ourselves and those around us for what makes us whole.”

Aurelia buried his face in his sister’s shoulder; the trepidation in his veins bled away into a warm sense of comfort. “I feared that you’d - you’d cast me away.”

“That would never happen, Rel.” Alune ran her fingers through his hair. “Not now, and not ever. In all honesty, I’m sorry you spent so much time worrying about nothing.”

A muffled laugh escaped him. “Apologies for being an overthinker.”

“That’s my job, you twat.”

“Alright, if you’re fine with me being a man, then what are your thoughts on me dying my hair?”

Alune pulled away, feigning shock. “That’s too far. How will anyone identify us as  _ twins? _ ”

“It’d fit the ‘opposites’ theme we’ve been running with for a while,” Aurelia chuckled. “You know,  _ really _ make you stick out like a sore thumb.”

“I offer you my endless love and support, and you betray me with being  _ normal _ and  _ black-haired _ . I’m appalled.” She crossed her arms and turned her head defiantly as if miffed. “How will I  _ ever _ recover?”

“Don’t worry, my offer to take your place on the front lines clearly wasn’t compensation enough,” Aurelia said dryly, fixing Alune’s braid to drape on her shoulder. She scoffed, but let him fuss over her. “‘It’s natural to change’, my ass.”

Alune smacked his arm lightly. “We’re in a temple of  _ worship _ ,” she hissed, only eliciting another laugh from her brother. “By the way, Rel…”

Aurelia began to fiddle with his shirt collar. The ceremony was bound to begin any minute now; he could hear the patterings of numerous footsteps shuffling outside the door. “Hm?”

“Are you okay with your name? Or would you like something more...masculine?” Alune asked, eyes sliding over to the moonrays lighting up the floor. 

Aurelia chewed the inside of his cheek in contemplation. It hadn’t really occurred to him to change his name until this point, as he’d rarely given the notion the time of day in between studies, rituals, and his own pit of isolated self-despair. It wasn’t even his name to begin with, in a way. It belonged to one of his eldest ancestors; surely she wouldn’t mind if he took charge of his own identity by going by another title. 

_ We’re meant to wax and wane, pulling in and out of the scenes of life like the tide. _

“I’m not sure yet,” Aurelia mused. “But it...it will change. When I decide.”

Alune smiled. “Sounds fine to me. It’s an important thing, a name. You ought to take your time with it.”

“Perhaps. Or this is the chance to rename myself to something exotic, like the Kled the Cantankerous Cavalier, shocking my enemies with the power of eccentricity alone-”

“You’re  _ impossible. _ ”

The twins turned as the door creaked open; a cleric in blue-white robes ushered them forward. “The Order awaits,” he said lowly. 

Alune inhaled sharply and grabbed her brother’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “Are you ready?” she whispered. 

A renewed vigor blossomed throughout Aurelia. “As I’ll ever be.”

Alune closed her eyes for a moment before striding out the door and into the open amphitheater. The pair followed the cleric’s wavering pathway, weaving through the crowd of bowed Lunari with a strength that seemed to come from the moon’s kindly gaze itself. The highpriestess stood straight-backed behind the altar, form coated in a silvered white.

“Acolytes of the Lunari Order,” she declared, voice carrying through the air as if it encompassed the entire mountain. “You stand here tonight in the presence of the cosmic powers alighting Targon, seeking to enter a life of servitude towards your people through the remaking of your body and mind. See into my mind and in my soul, that who calls herself Alune, as proof of my candor. Do I speak truths?”

That-Who-Calls-Herself-Alune’s eyes glowed with an ancient cerulean. “Yes, Highpriestess,” she breathed. “You speak truths.”

The highpriestess nodded affirmatively. “Then, by the powers blessed unto me by the richness of the moon, we shall begin the ceremony of true rebirth. Are there any oppositions that either of you would like to request before you commence this new cycle of your life?”

Aurelia’s breath caught in his throat again. He could feel Alune’s hand squeeze his own again in an attempt to soothe his anxiety. It was time to have faith.  _ Again. _

“Yes, Your Lightness,” he called out, tone wavering. Fear’s claws were trying to sink in again - but they would not sway him. Not today.

_ You’ll be okay, _ Alune whispered.  _ Take a leap. _

One, two, three breaths. “I’d like to be reborn as a man,” he said, confidence seeping into him once again. “I’d like to be known as. Ah. Um.”

A name. Gods, a  _ name _ , he could think up a damned  _ name. _ His eyes flicked between the statues of the Moontouched that surrounded the amphitheater, their names and titles leaping into his mind from years of study.  _ Cerebril the Heavy-Handed, Yon’lahn the Adoring, Urugard the Devoted, Aphelion the Reverent- _

Aphelion. Aphelion was a great warrior, an ascendant whose tales Aurelia looked up to in his darkest moments.

It clicked.

“Aphelios,” he said firmly. “I’d like to be known as Aphelios.”

The highpriestess’s mouth tugged into the barest hint of a smile. “Then it shall be so, Aphelios,” she replied, grabbing a handful of silvery dust and casting it upon his head. She then turned her gaze to Alune.

“I have no request, Your Lightness.”

“Then it shall be so, Alune.” A shower of moondust sprinkled over Alune. “Drink from the blood of your ancestors, acolytes, and dip into the crescent pool. Let the sky write your fates into the stars.”

They did so, drinking the ivory poison and attempting not to scream as it tore into both of their throats. Alune was near tears; Aphelios could barely choke it down, but the stars told him to get used to it. He was to be the one to carry the burden between the two of them, for he had chosen the path of the executioner.

The lulling hum of hundreds of Lunari prayers sung throughout the night as the argent water soaked into their skin, holy light coursing through their veins like licking flames. Aphelios’s mind felt jarred and barely conscious, but they had to persist. It felt like an eternity of burning, feverish hell, but this was how it had to be. This was true faith, true loyalty. They had to  _ endure. _

“Rise, Moontouched,” the highpriestess shouted. “Begin anew as Alune the All-Seeing, the Ever-Watching, the Observer of the Night. Begin anew, Aphelios the Vindicator, the Sentinel of the Twilight, the Weapon of the Faithful.”

The pain washed away, Alune’s mind integrating with his own. An opalescent rifle entwined within his arms, resting gently in his grip. 

_ Calibrum _ , Alune told him.

_ Duty, _ Aphelios replied.

**Author's Note:**

> should mention that i have no idea how lunari rituals work so idk take some bullshitting i guess? i tried[tm]. hope you enjoyed, have a good day!


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